The game opens with a long cinematic cut sequence, at the end of which you find yourself imprisoned, having lost your memory, not knowing who your friends and enemies are, and having in your possession technology far more advanced than the planet you’re inhabiting has invented yet, but not knowing how to use it – or where you got it. You have some form of electronic journal, but it’s been damaged so you can’t access it at the start of the game.
The plot is a mix of sci-fi and fantasy, and there is a real sense of intrigue as the story unravels. There are plenty of surprises along the way and this plot would make a fantastic film (any takers?). The dialogue is generally well thought out, with the insight shown by the author (especially in scenes where the hero of the game, Drek, is trying to make sense of his discoveries) more than making up for some grammatical errors and inconsistency. (There is also a bit of bad language in this game – not a great deal, but really it was unnecessary. There’s not so much that it will ruin the game for you unless you are really sensitive.)
The battle system is a little different from normal in that you can “recharge” – use a turn to build up your stats – as well as the normal “attack – spell” system, and the battles tend to be a little more strategy-based than the normal “just keep pressing the space bar as quickly as possibly…” method.
The puzzles range from dead easy to damn tricky, and I’m afraid I did need to email the author twice in order to complete the game. (Though on both of them I was actually on the right lines already, just not quite all the way there…) Oddly the two mentioned on the game’s homepage I found extremely easy, but just those two really had me baffled for a while.
The music’s very good (adds very significantly to the large download size though) and the sound effects well-chosen. The graphics are pretty basic but in the cut scenes look great – they have a real retro feel to them (reminds me of “Under a Steel Sky” on the Amiga and the intro to “Powermonger” on my old ST). The fact that they’re all hand-drawn, original graphics is a welcome change from all the free games using ripped or universal graphics, too. (Graphics by “Metro” and “Arias”)
The game will probably take you around 15-20 hours to complete, which ain’t bad for a freebie! It’s greatest merit is by far the storyline, which I would say without hesitation is the best, and most original, that I have yet seen – in any RPG, let alone a free one! Very highly recommended.
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